Lincoln-Way East Freshman, 14, Scores Perfect 36 on ACT

Sabrina Corsetti first picked up a book when she was 15 months old—then climbing up into her grandfather’s lap to emulate him reading—and she has loved learning ever since.

The 14-year-old from Frankfort had a packed schedule of honors and AP classes her freshman year at Lincoln-Way East, and is planning on two AP courses next year. She even skipped ahead a couple years and took the ACT college entrance exam, and landed a perfect score of 36.

Perfection on the exam is so rare it is attained by only one-tenth of 1 percent of all those who take the test—that’s 1,407 students in 2014 out of 1.85 million.

“I really didn’t believe that I would ever reach a 36,” Sabrina said. She had merely been hoping to improve on her first score of 29 (“and that was better than anything I could have expected”).

She took several practice exams before the next real thing, and her scores indicated she might not do “particularly well.” The real exam shook her. It was unbelievably hard, she said, and she left feeling as though she might have scored lower than her first attempt. She and her family anxiously awaited her score.

Her nerves fraying more each day, she arrived home one day to two Mylar balloons in the shapes of the numbers three and six.

“We pulled into the driveway, and it didn’t ‘click’,” Sabrina said. Her mother looked intently at her face, waiting for the news to sink in.

“That’s your ACT score,” Michelle Corsetti told her.

Sabrina squealed, jumped out of the car to greet her and father Nino and younger brother Dante, who were waiting to share the moment with her. Neighbors dashed over, blasting “76 Trombones” on their phone. Inside the house, she found a Kit Kat and M&M chocolate cake waiting for her, topped with number 3 and 6 candles.

“I really didn’t believe that I would ever reach a 36, and that’s why it didn’t click,” she said. “That was seven points higher than I thought I had scored. It really had to take a minute to truly hit me that she wasn’t joking. It wasn’t some kind of sick joke. I never thought that I would have gotten a 36.”

Her mother wasn’t as surprised at her teen daughter’s results. She started reading at 3 years old, and would often read three books at a time.

“We’d have to tell her to go to sleep because we’d catch her staying up pretty late to read,” Corsetti said. “To listen to the teachers talk about her and her love for learning, is something special.”

Her hunger for knowledge grew through her years at Hickory Creek Middle School when she won a spot at the Center for Talent Development at Northwestern University, a program for academically gifted students. She first tried the ACT in seventh grade, achieving a score of 24. Then again in eighth grade, for a score of 29.

The third try was the charm for her perfect 36, and she’ll never have to take it again. The score is valid for five years.

She intends to stay at Lincoln-Way East the full four years and graduate with her freshman class of 2018. She completed her freshman year with five A-pluses and two A’s. Moving forward, she plans to take ”as many AP courses as possible,” to earn college credit that will allow her to enter a university with sophomore standing. Next year’s schedule includes AP history and computer science, honors chemistry, advanced algebra, wind ensemble and Spanish 2. She is a member of the regional champ Mathletes, and secured a coveted spot on the wind ensemble.

“I love the effort that I put into school because it’s always so rewarding,” Sabrina said. “School is always the place I feel most at home. I reach for the opportunity.”

In her free time, she volunteers at the Mokena Public Library, with the Hickory Creek Middle School band, and at her synagogue. She also tutors math. And, you guessed it, she still loves to read (her favorite authors are John Green and Stephen King). She also enjoys movie nights and family time, and playing with her pet salamander.

She plans to attend the University of Illinois, where she hopes to major in physics and engineering. She’ll take a wide array of AP courses to make sure she has pinpointed her academic passion before embarking into college.

Her mother admires her dedication and maturity at such a young age, and encourages her to enjoy her high school years.

“She has to be a child, too,” Michelle said. “She has fallen in love with Lincoln-Way East. For her to be able to explore with the coursework that East offers, so that she gets a better understanding of what she wants to do, so that she doesn’t go away and change her mind many times. ... For her to understand that that’s what she wants to do, that’s great.

“She is growing into a very unique, loving individual. She has been a joy to watch.”